FTN Living

daffodils in a ditch

 

Driving down the road a few days ago I happened to glance over into a steep ditch along the side of the highway and there was a single clump of daffodils just blooming away as bright as the sun.

So, naturally, I stopped and climbed down off the road into the ditch to take a picture. My new camera gives me a sense of adventure apparently as I totally didn’t think twice about whether or not a big fat rattlesnake might also be soaking up the sunshine in all that overgrown grass and underbrush.
Well, I didn’t think about it until I was crouching down to get an eye level shot of the flowers and then I did think about it and nearly passed out.
In the ditch.
Facedown.
Right on top of my new, not paid for yet, camera.
But none of that happened and I went right on snapping photos while cars flew by on the road above my head.

I wasn’t having a particularly bad day or anything but the sight of these bright little cheerful flowers just blooming away all by themselves in a ditch on the side of the road made me suddenly feel uplifted. “Bloom where you are planted”, a sometimes over-used phrase, popped into my head and made perfect sense. I have recently been struggling with the possibility of a really huge transition in my life that is rather out of my immediate control and  a lot of “What will I do, how can I start over, etc.” thoughts have been in the back of my mind. And here, in the most unlikely of places in the most unlikely of ways, was an answer.

Bloom where you are planted.

Maybe circumstances aren’t ideal or what you would choose or even conventional…but part of living an open, creative life is making the most of what you have, wherever you are. And then, again, I am reminded of the foundation of my current life and work…that the life I live was created and shaped by change. I am reminded that through many trials and struggles and hilarious misadventures I have come to be exactly where I am today.

Sometimes that may mean that I'm in a ditch…with daffodils. And that isn’t a half bad place to be.

I hope that wherever you are today you find a way to bloom.

peace & love

just peachy

Just down the road from my shop are several peach orchards.
Georgia peach orchards.

Can you imagine?
Georgia peaches are succulent, delicious and a sweet blessing in the blistering heat of a Southern summer.

At the moment the peach trees are filled with blossoms, soft and angelic petals lifting themselves to the comfort of an unseasonably warm February sky.

I decided to take a drive and capture the moment to share with you, I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

There was an admittedly strong wind blowing the day these photos were taken, a strong wind bringing bitter cold with it. Let's hope the early foliage survives this drastic change.

Until later,
peace & love

rx...

The shop will be closed for a few days while I am away in Augusta doing Round II with the [now] infamous Left Kidney. It is rather as if it has an identity all of it's own and certainly has decided not to play nicely with the rest of the amazing, wonderful parts that make up the "me" that I am. The human body is really pretty fascinating, don't you think? "I am wonderfully and fearfully made..."

Fascinating until something goes wrong and then, suddenly, you are very aware of the fragility of the balance between good health and living your life.

We are all very hopeful that this will be the end of the Kidney saga and that my general well being is going to just be remarkably improved after a period of healing and recuperation.

I want to say thank you to all of my dear friends and loved ones who have supported me with their love, prayers and in so many other ways. A very special thank you goes to my parents who never once falter in any way, shape or form when it comes to helping me get through these trying days. Without them, well...I can't imagine what life would be like or how I would have mananged the last few years, and particularily these past few months.

So, good bye for a while dear friends...we will leave Tuesday morning for Augusta and return as soon as the great doctors there decide I am ready to come home. I do hope that those of you who visit the shop on a regular basis will forgive us for closing our doors for a few days and will come again when we are back! We intend to have the shop re-open for certain on August 9th but if I can convince Mama to leave me in Daddy's capable care following the surgery, she may have the shop open a few days sooner.

Prayers are certainly coveted and appreciated above anything else, prayers for healing and the guidance of a surgeon's hands...and for me to be a good patient! lol Oh, come on...ya'll already know!

Until later,
peace & love